It was a fabulous party. So many people came, friends, strangers and readers of the book. What a great send off!The Northcoast Rape Crisis Team was there (we put this on as a benefit for them). They use Strong at the Heart for crisis worker trainings and to give to clients.One young crisis worker talked [...]

Tomorrow is the official launch of the new, updated, paperback edition of Strong at the Heart. The party will be at one of my favorite places--the bookstore four blocks from my house. If you are local, do come! Northtown Books, 957 H Street, Arcata, CA. The party starts at 7 pm. This morning I was [...]

In the past month I've experience three powerful moments of healing in my own community. "Flash mob, on the Plaza," a friend told me on Valentine's day. "What time?" "2:14." So I ran over to have a look. There must have been upwards to a hundred young teen girls gathered on the Plaza in the [...]

If you want to hear the voices of real survivors of childhood sexual abuse, talking frankly about what happened to them and how they heal, check this out. Cliff Berkowitz, founder of KHUM in Northern California, DJs an eclectic morning show. For three weeks each November, he uses his show to raise awareness of interpersonal [...]

This weekend I'll be headed for Davis, California, to receive the Friend of the Child Award from young child abuse advocates. The Courageous Kids' Network is a group of young adults who speak out about their experiences being placed with abusive parents by family courts. Now that they are out of abuseve homes, they are [...]

When I left home for the International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego, I felt unsure about the whole enterprise. There'd been a mix up about ordering books. My workshop had been paired with a report on sexual abuse and the military. And the book signing was scheduled for two days before [...]

Today I've been working on my presentation for the Healthy Teen Network Conference in Anaheim on Thursday. But now that I've figured out how to get download photos onto this computer from my camera, I wanted to get up the pictures from the Instituto and CLA.
Then, as I was working, I got an e-mail from Liz Bohm, one of the organizers of the event at Instituto Familiar de la Raza. Her description is so...

Finally, Internet access. Just because a hotel is pricey doesn't mean the wireless connection is free--or reliable.
I'm at the California Library Association Conference in Sacramento, part of a mini California book tour.
Tomorrow morning--after after the Beatty Award breakfast--I'll be setting up a poster session on Sexual Abuse in Young Adult Literature...

Saturday's event in Westhaven went really, really well. There was a lovely audience, including friends from various parts of my life. It's a real treat to do a book event in my own community!
Sam and Pearl Oliner, two sociologists who study and write about altruism came and contributed to the discussion. So did Paige Alisen, the founder of The Emma Center.
One woman asked me to post the statistics on child sexual abuse...